Asian Studies

Korean popular culture has recently gained critical attention in the global media marketplace. Particularly, Hallyu (the Korean Wave), a term coined in Asia describing the widespread popularity of Korean cultural products and its regional and trans-regional influences, has been prominently addressed by the scholars, the critics, and the fans altogether in many parts of Asia and beyond. Through readings, discussions, in-class screenings, and presentations, this course provides a comprehensive view of contemporary Korean culture, society, and politics through examining some of the most representative forms of popular culture. Specific topics include the Korean family; marriage, weddings, foreign brides, and multiculturalism; plastic surgery and eating disorders; education; Korean film and TV; and globalization. 

This course looks at constructions of gender in modern Japanese literature by both female and male authors. Readings cover some of the major authors, genres, and literary movements of modern Japanese literature, as well as secondary readings in gender theory.

This class offers lectures and presentations on Korean history and culture for foreign students without a Korean educational background. The first half of the course emphasizes modern Korean culture and how it relates to Korean identity and “Korean-ness.” The second half covers major periods in Korean history in chronological order, giving emphasis to specific events and incidents as necessary.

The course provides an overview of Japanese civilization from ancient to modern times, delving into the eras of the Samurai, Shogun, Tenno, Kamikuni.

The course is part of the LM degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by consent of the instructor. Combining the fields of migration studies and labor studies, the course introduces students to social issues connected with the Chinese presence in Africa and the African presence in China. The relationship between China and African countries is at the center of heated debates with Chinese investments, infrastructure construction, job creation, and raw material appropriation in Africa often portrayed in binary terms: China is either pitched as a predator and the new imperialist power in Africa, or else celebrated as a friend offering to the African counterpart a win-win cooperation. This takes place against a global background in which scholars and pundits alike are increasingly forced to take a stand as non-partisan analysis is in vertical decline and views on China have rapidly polarized. Using images and videos, the course offers a nuanced discussion of the many facets of the Chinese presence in Africa. At the same time, it delves into the action of African states, and agency enacted by African elites and the populace in relation to the Chinese presence and activism on the continent. The Chinese presence in Africa is not analyzed in isolation but is discussed in the framework of the “global China” phenomenon, visible in China's increasing outward flows of investment, loans, migrants, infrastructure, media, and international engagement. Additionally, the course also offers an introduction to visual sociology as a tool that enables students to elaborate sociological interpretations of the visual materials presented. Specific topics include: racialization and intersectionality in Africa-China Encounters; China in Africa; Chinese Soft Power; Chinese and African Labor in Africa; the gold rush in Ghana; China as a model for Africa; the African Perspective; development, aid, and the reproduction of dependency; and Africa in China.

This course examines and analyzes the worth of representative poets and masterpiece in Modern Korean poetry from the 1920s to the 2000s. It also introduces concepts, basic principles of modern Korean poetry and students get the pleasure of reading poems once again. This process is a time of the reenacted experience about historical experience, philosophical experience, sensuous experience in the modern poetry. In this lecture, students read Korean modern poetry and study basic poetics and theory of poetry at same time. In addition, we widen the extent of the understand by studying about variety of a cultural experience that appeared on modern Korean poetry. We  study Korean poetry along with multiple genre of art, as well as ideology of history, politics, folk, and themes such as love, food, fashion . Students contemplate 'What is poetic thing?' While all students who like poetry can enjoy this course, appreciation of poems at the University-level is beyond the level of that reading comprehension. By reading poems, students can find the important poetic spirit that penetrate contemporary culture.